Nexus Mods, the biggest video game mod repository in town, received some heavy backlash from modders this week after learning that they’ll soon be unable to delete any works they upload to the popular modding site. The announcement became controversial, while others hailed it as the right thing to do.
Nexus Mods’ New “Collection”?
The news came up last July 1. According to the announcement, it intended to make mod management easier for the average user and the “benefit” of “Collections”. The Nexus Mods team revealed that they’ve been working on the project for two years now.
“Collection” is basically a metafile that’s made up of a list of mods. As soon as it’s uploaded on the modding site, anyone can download the metafile and install mods, the same way as they are presented in the collection.
The new system allows users to add the most popular mods to their games without any worries of possible conflicts, load order, and other issues. Aside from that, the mod creators will still get donation points from the downloads.
However, deletion isn’t the only thing modders are worried about. According to comments found on Reddit, Discord, and the Nexus Mods announcements, some modders feel that the new system will drive users away from their mod pages (where mod creators can collect donations) in favor of simply using the Collection (which could then affect the number of donations the modders receive). Some would want to know if they can hide their works in the collection, but the Nexus team says that there will be no opt-in system for the same reason modders won’t be able to delete files. Instead, they could choose to opt-out.
Understanding how drastic the changes are, modders were given a grace period until August 5 to delete their files permanently. However, you can only do it once. After the deadline, you’ll be needing the discretion of the staff.
Some modders have already cleaned houses by transferring their mods to ModDB. Another plans to temporarily remove their mods, but may return if they notice that the changes aren’t that bad.
Mixed Feelings
While some modders feel that the upcoming change is a wrong move, it seems that the modding community is positive towards the new ‘Collections’ feature. A modder said on Reddit that curated modlists are the best thing that happened to modding, especially in games such as Skyrim. They also found a new audience for their mods, thanks to being included in a modlist installer.
Anyway, those who are disappointed with the changes can request for their files to be deleted and have a grace period of 30 days before the full implementation. Make sure to check this link for further details. Who knows, they might even tweak the rules to make it more favorable for the community!
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